Infinit Nutrition Canada - Premium Sport-Specific Nutrition

Monday, March 9, 2015

Rich Pady - First Try at Life After Tri!!!

Some of you will know that Rich was my coach for Ironman racing, what you may not know is he was one of our first customers. He started customizing product with us in the first week we opened our doors, way back in November 2006.

Rich certainly helped me bring more purpose to my training, ever grateful for his guidance and motivation. Best quote of Rich's to me was an analogy - training is like putting pennies in a jar, if every day you put pennies in a jar, at the end you will end up with a jar full of pennies, regardless if you miss a day once in a while. He shared this with me when I was worried about a missed workout. Obviously put it in perspective.

Rich has transitioned from his Ironman training, you may of seen this back in October: 2014 Kona Race Report. This was his last Ironman race, he is now looking for other physical challenges. Here is one of his first, as told by Rich:

As part of my 2015 goals "trying NEW sporting events" I participated in the Hardwood Hills Fat Bike Championships yesterday. The race was a 30km course combining both the XC ski trails and some of their summer MTB single track trails. It was great fun trying something new with my friendsDerek MacNeil and Jason Vurma.

Being a rookie I didn't set my self up on the front line and found myself chatting with the guys at the back of the pack with just a minute to the start. The gun went off and 50 racers took off like it was a mile sprint. The first mile is slightly uphill with one solid climb before the single track starts. I was at first happy to let everyone kill themselves, but then about 2 minutes into the race I realized I didn't want to be behind all of them going into the single track (ST). I went to the outside and put in a solid minute effort that had me at my max as we reached the top of the first hill less then a mile into the race. I did move myself from 20th(ish) to 3rd going into the ST so the effort was worth it. On the first turn in the ST the guy in front of me had way too much speed and had a epic crash. I was just able to avoid him and move into 2nd. The ST was crazy hard as the snow was soft. My bike was all over the place but I was able to keep it "rubber side down"(words from Derek MacNeil). Back onto the XC trails the pace picked back up and it was a lot of fun. The steep climbs on "Racer Out" and "Tower" took everything I had to not spin out on the softer snow. I past the leader in this section and started to build to pull away. After the first lap (15k) I was about 3 minutes ahead. I kept the pace smooth as I started the 2nd loop with no idea of the fun waiting for me in about a mile. As I reached the ST for the second time I rode right into the foot holes of 50 other people who had had to walk the first loop of the ST. I crash hard as my front wheel sunk into a foot hole. I got up and stupidly tried to start riding again. My back wheel just sank. It was clear then that the next 3kms of trail was going to be a HIKE(RUN)-A-BIKE. I keep thinking "man I suck I'm sure the guys behind me are going to ride this and I'm going to be over taken". It turns out everyone had the same challenges and some had it as well on the first lap (I was lucky). After the very challenging, run/hike/still trying from time to time to get back on the bike only to crash, I made it out of the ST and back onto the XC trails. I still felt great however and pushed on. On the back half of the race I focused only on the challenge of making it up and down all the hills, it was a great lesson on pedalling with even pressure on the pedals and no over breaking. If you push down too hard on a climb your back wheel will spin out, your climb is over and you are pushing your bike to the top of the hill. There is no restarting a FAT BIKE after you stop on a hill. For anyone who has skied at Hardwood you know that at the bottom of any great descend there is a turn. The trail was chopped up from the first lap and picking a good line into the turns and not over breaking was key to staying up. It was great fun and the time past so quickly. I did end up holding off the rest of the racers and took my first ever bike race win in 1hr 44min. I owe a special thanks to my good friend Ed Ayranto who hooked me up with his VERY fast machine last minute as I'm pretty sure that had a lot to do with the win. GOAL #1 Check!!
Having spent some time over the years with Rich, this result is not at all a surprise. Crazy engine with a mind that matches it. Nice Job Rich!